Montreal - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the appointment of Rodolfo “Rudy” Quevedo as Director of Safety. On 2 September 2014 Quevedo will join IATA’s Safety and Flight Operations team and will be based in Montreal. He will be responsible for Cabin Safety, Safety Management Systems (SMS), and Global Aviation Data Management (GADM).

Quevedo comes to IATA from the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) where he served as Director, Global Programs, managing FSF’s technical and global initiatives in collaboration with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Prior to joining FSF in 2011, he was Director of Safety for North American Airlines, a position he held for four years. He began his aviation career at Eastern Airlines in 1980.

“Rudy brings over three decades of increasingly senior aviation safety management experience and expertise to IATA. Safety is aviation’s top priority. I am happy to have someone of Rudy’s caliber to fill this vital role for the industry,” said Kevin Hiatt, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Safety and Flight Operations.

"I am very proud to join IATA as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first commercial flight. Safety has constantly improved over the century. IATA has a unique global perspective and expertise on safety. Through my work, I look forward to helping make our already safe industry even safer," said Quevedo.